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Monday, October 7, 2013

Craft Room is a go!

Hi everyone! Just a little something different on the blog today. I wanted to share with you the first room in the new house that is totally ready to go! The craft room/office, of course! This room serves as my home office when I work from home, so it was high on my list of spaces to get done. When putting the room together, my main goal was to make it quick and easy for me to find everything. I tried to bundle supplies/tools by type and by how much I use them. To keep the visual clutter down, everything is white and the plastic drawers are lined with white paper as well.

Below is the view from the doorway. I love that this room is on the main level of
the house and I'm not cut off from everything going on in the house. As you can see, I didn't spend a lot
of money putting together this room. I prefer to spend my money on
the craft supplies themselves! Most of the items are Ikea, Target, yard
sales, or going-out-of-business sales.

My favorite items in this pic are the 2 large metal cabinets that I use as a base for my craft surface (a hollow core door, btw). They are pattern cabinets (the kind you see in a fabric store) and my dad got several of these cabinets for practically nothing years ago from a fabric store going out of business. I have more in the garage;) One day I'll get them powder-coated a fun color, but for now, white contact paper will do. They are awesome because the drawers are large and pull all the way out. The bookcase in the corner is just an inexpensive Ikea model. I use it to hold DVD baskets with my clear stamps. Each stamp set is in an Avery Elle storage pocket (with the matching die if there is one). That cabinet also stores my impression plates and embossing folders in the plastic drawers. Now to the craft table...

I recently got my two inkpad holders from Organize More and I highly recommend them! I was lucky to get them on sale but I have to admit, they're worth the full retail price:) The cubbies are even big enough to hold my reinkers. Here's what's below the table...

In the cabinets below the craft table, I use the left cabinet for "tools" and the right cabinet for "supplies". On the "tools" side (drawers above), the top drawer stores my Big Shot, cutting pads, and my dies that do not have a matching stamp set. The second drawer holds pencils, pens, label makers, punches, etc.

On the "supplies" side, the top drawer contains washi, enamel dots, gems, string/twine, baking-related stuff, and other random embellies. The next drawer has yarn, ribbon, cork, and note pads that I used to make gifts. For small bits, I use old spaghetti jars.

To the right of the craft table is this upright lateral file that I got from a friend's office that was moving and selling all the old furniture. Best $5 I ever spent! Again, contact paper was used to dress it up a bit. On top of this filing cabinet, I have my copics and filing boxes of various papers and stamps. This cabinet is mostly office stuff but I have one drawer for card stock and one drawer with all my Silhouette supplies.

I really baby my cardstock because I hate wasted paper. The hanging files keep the card stock from getting bent or scratched and keeps it organized by color. Because the filing cabinet is metal, I also use it to store a few of my long dies and my big ole roll of foam tape (from Staples) with magnets. In the past, I stored more of my dies this way, but I lost a few and that was not acceptable!

The wall to the left of the door is where I have my desk and computer. I use my laptop mostly but the Big Mac is waiting for a permanent home. Once I get another desk, he will move to the rec room for the kids to use. The desk, chair, lamp, and tall bookcase are all from Ikea. The bookcase is where I keep my wood stamps in cookie jars. I also keep random stuff that I don't use often like paint daubers, ink spots, glitter, gems, etc., in the plastic drawers. In the lower part of the bookcase behind the doors, I keep my sewing machine, thread, and fabric. Along the window wall, I keep some low plastic drawers for scrap paper and that's where I keep my paper cutter and scoreboard. That's also where I keep my little TV that plays girly DVDs only (no cable in here).That's about it! The best part of the room is the fact that I still have empty drawers! I purged a bunch during the move and I hope to clear out even more items in the next few months. I hope you had a little fun peeking behind the scenes;) Thanks for stopping in and have a wonderful week!

Lovely space. Last summer I did the same thing - lined my drawer fronts with white to minimize the visual clutter. I love your idea of using contact paper to dress up units. I have an ugly mechanic's tool chest that is mostly black with some red showing through. I think I will try this treatment.

Thanks for the tour, JJ! So fun to see where you'll be crafting from. You must be so darn excited to get everything into place and ready to go! I need some ink storage like yours (and apparently, more ink pads!!) Thanks so much for taking the time to share with us : )

Your new office/craft room is just beautiful, JJ! I love all the white...such a great idea!I hope you will enjoy it for many years to come...now, I can't wait to see what you create! Thanks so much for the tour!

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